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“I’m not known in the Church for being a closed-minded medieval, am I? So you can be sure that I have an open heart to see where the Holy Spirit leads us,” said the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Female Diaconate to Be Studied "more intensively": Doctrine of Faith Dicastery Prefect

Oct 25, 2024

Cardinal Victor Fernández also stated that the female diaconate question, although Pope Francis considers it not “mature,” is not a “closed issue.”

“Rushing to ask for the ordination of deaconesses is not today the most important response to promote women,” Cardinal Víctor Fernández, the head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, said Oct. 21, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Diaconate "is not today" the Answer for Promoting Women in Church Leadership: Doctrine of Faith Dicastery Prefect

Oct 22, 2024

Cardinal Víctor Fernández at a speech at the general congregation on Oct. 21 recalled that for the Holy Father the question of the female diaconate “is not ripe.”

Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, speaks during a press conference about a new Vatican document on human dignity on April 8, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Synod on Synodality: Vatican's Doctrine of the Faith Prefect Promises Follow-up Meeting after Controversial Absence

Oct 20, 2024

Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), has reportedly apologized for what he called a “misunderstanding” regarding his absence from an Oct. 18 meeting of synod delegates about a Vatican study group on women’s roles in the Church.

Delegates attend a session of the 16th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops at the Paul VI Hall on Oct. 5, 2024, in Vatican City. / Credit: Franco Origlia/Getty Images

Women Deacons Off the Table? Synod Delegate Claims "some women sense a call to Priesthood"

Oct 7, 2024

“I think we have to look at the question very much from … the Spirit. ‘Is the Spirit calling women?’” said Sister Mary Theresa Barron, OLA.

On the first working day of the Synod on Synodality at the Vatican on Oct. 2, 2024, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, shut down speculation regarding further theological study into the possibility of women being ordained as deacons. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Synod Rules Out Women Deacons; Meetings Called to Be "laboratories of synodal life"

Oct 3, 2024

The Synod on Synodality commenced its second day on Thursday in which 356 participants convened at the Vatican.

Delegates vote to approve a synthesis report at the conclusion of the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 28, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis Steers Delicate Course on Women, the Church, and the Synod on Synodality 2024

Oct 1, 2024

Debate on women’s participation in the Catholic Church — including the idea of whether women could one day be deacons — is not on the agenda for this month’s assembly of the Synod on Synodality, but synodal conversations on the topic continue, some at the explicit invitation of Pope Francis.

Delegates to the Synod on Synodality meet in the final days of the synod, Oct. 25, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media

Synod Organizer Says Vatican Doctrine Office is Studying Women Deacons

Jul 9, 2024

Cardinal Mario Grech said the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith is studying “the women’s diaconate” within the context of its in-depth study of ministries.

Pope Francis and delegates at the Synod on Synodality at the conclusion of the assembly on Oct. 28, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

What Does the Synod on Synodality Document Say about "controversial" Issues?

Oct 28, 2023

The Synod on Synodality, the monthlong assembly convened by Pope Francis at the Vatican, released its final document containing the discussion of several hot-button issues which it calls “controversial”: the idea of women deacons, optional priestly celibacy, and the accompaniment of people struggling with their gender or sexual identity.

Pope Francis waves to pilgrims in St. Peter's Square during his Angelus address on Oct. 15, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis on Women Deacons: "Holy orders is reserved for men"

Oct 25, 2023

Pope Francis reaffirmed the impossibility of women becoming priests, or even modern Church deacons, in an interview for a book released Tuesday in Italy.

A 2019 meeting in the Vatican's New Synod Hall. Credit: Vatican Media.

Pope Francis Establishes New Commission to Study Women Deacons

Apr 9, 2020

The Vatican announced Wednesday that Pope Francis has created a new commission to study the question of a female diaconate in the Catholic Church, after some members of the 2019 Amazon synod requested the pope re-establish a 2016 commission on the subject.

A 2019 meeting in the Vatican's New Synod Hall. Credit: Vatican Media.

Amazon Synod Discussion Groups Support Married Priests, Female Deacons

Oct 18, 2019

At least four of the 12 language groups at the Amazon synod overtly propose the ordination of married men to the priesthood in summary reports published by the Vatican Friday, with the majority of the discussion groups expressing openness to the idea.